Plymouth 'cat lady’ arraigned on animal cruelty charges

Plymouth police charged local woman Heidi Erickson, known as the “cat lady,” with nine counts of cruelty to animals Tuesday.

Rich Harbert

Plymouth police charged local woman Heidi Erickson, known as the “cat lady,” with nine counts of cruelty to animals Tuesday.

Erickson was charged on warrants Tuesday in District Court while being arraigned in connection with an early morning disturbance with a neighbor. A prosecutor said the animal cruelty charges stem from the discovery of nine neglected and abused Persian cats in Erickson’s Lothrop Street apartment last week.

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Whitcher said two of the cats required immediate medical attention. Others suffered from dehydration and malnutrition and had open wounds and sores.

Erickson repeatedly shook her head during descriptions of the animal’s health. She told District Court Judge Thomas Brownell a veterinarian has checked the cats and deemed them healthy.

Brownell refused a state request to ban Erickson from keeping animals while the case proceeds after learning Erickson’s dog, a Great Dane, showed no signs of abuse or neglect.

Brownell released Erickson instead with just a warning not to have any contact with her downstairs neighbor.

“I would ask that she stay away from me,” Erickson told the judge. “She’s threatened to kill me.”

Police arrested Erickson, 48, and a 74-year-old male companion at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday after visiting the apartment house for repeated noise complaints from the neighbor.

Last week, police searched Erickson’s apartment and found filthy conditions while helping the heath director investigate a putrid odor coming from the apartment. They returned the next day and seized 11 Persian cats and the Great Dane.

Police said the cats appeared neglected and abused. Some were shaking and emaciated. Others were caked with feces. Some had matted fur and open wounds. Some seemed to have trouble putting pressure on their paws.

Whitcher, reading in court from police reports, said a veterinarian from Tufts Medical Center examined the cats and found nine in poor condition: Eight were severely malnourished; two were in need of immediate medical care.

Whitcher asked the judge to ban Erickson from keeping any animals until the case is resolved, but the judge refused to make any pretrial order about the dog or cats.

Attorneys for the town were not immediately sure if the cats would be returned. An attorney for the town said police would digest the decision and might request a new order on the animals when Erickson returns to court next week.

The cats are being held at the local animal shelter. Police returned the dog to Erickson last week.

Erickson was dubbed the “cat lady” after authorities found dozens of cats in her Boston apartment several years ago. She has been living in an apartment on Lothrop Street since last summer.

Erickson, in an interview Monday, said her landlord, her neighbors and town officials are harassing her.

She said the trouble started shortly after she moved into the apartment on Lothrop Street and complained to the health department about garbage being stored in the basement on the building. She is currently in a legal battle with her landlord.

Erickson said she kept dead cats in her freezer because she plans to bury them in her backyard when she is able to own her own home. One of the dead cats appeared mutilated, she said, because a local veterinarian took biopsies after the cat died to preserve its DNA. “He was very, very, very valuable,” she said.

Police are still investigating the cause of death of the frozen cats.

Police and Merrified found the dead cats while searching the apartment for the source of a putrid smell last Tuesday. Police reports state the apartment was in total disarray, with cat feces, urine and matted fur on the floor of several rooms. Police said one cat was found in a cat crate with large quantities of urine and feces.

Erickson said authorities had no right to enter her house, but it is not unusual. She claims police illegally searched her apartment at least three times last fall in violation of her Fourth Amendments rights. She said she has filed a federal lawsuit against the town and local police over the earlier searches.

During her arraignment Tuesday, Erickson said police also had no warrant for their search last week. After her release from court Tuesday, Erickson called her early morning arrest a fiasco.

“Police were at my door six times last night,” she said. “Boy, do we have a nice, fat lawsuit.”

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